Daily Updates on the Live Music Scene in Meaford and Area

The Thursday Outlook – Sept. 14 to 18, 2017

It’s the third Bring Your Own Vinyl night at The Red Door, hosted by Tom Thwaits Saturday starting at eight. This is a fun night. Bring your favourite LP, tell the room why you want them to hear it, and Tom plays a cut on the turntable. It makes for a great night of oral history as everyone has a tale about their favourite cut, and the music ranges through everybody’s personal taste.

The first night, Tom even brought along an LP by Sons of Ishmael, a high school band from Meaford that established an international cult following in the eighties with their “seriously intense” hardcore punk. So you never know what you’ll hear.

On Saturday afternoon, Sept. 17th, James Keelaghan will be hosting the final in Summerfolk’s Music Biz Tune Up Workshop from one to three at the Suite Spots in Owen Sound. This series, which has run through the spring and summer, has provided aspiring musicians with career guidance ranging from how to book gigs to the many ways to earn income from your music. For this final workshop the focus will be on how to use jamming to expand your contacts within the industry. By connecting with other musicians on a musical level, at festivals or conferences, valuable contacts and alliances can be formed. “Learn songs by different people so you can go in a number of directions and that increases your ability to connect with people”, James suggests. For those unable to make it this Saturday, James will be offering a shortened version of the workshop next Saturday as well.

This weekend’s looking good at CROW Bar and Variety, Collingwood’s newest music venue (where The Casbah used to be) .

The amazing Jenie Thai will be there with her band on Saturday night. If you saw her with her band when she headlined one of the Meaford Summer Concert Series, you know the audience is in for a treat on Saturday night. This is a band that picks up on the audience and goes where they are going, and then, as the saying goes, takes them higher. Jenie Thai is equally brilliant on piano and vocals.

On Friday night, Pat Robitaille, ex-frontman of The Walkervilles, starts at nine. Referred to by Exclaim! as the “man with the golden voice” (the Windsor Star called it a “smoky voice”), Pat’s first single sold 10,000 copies and took him around the world. When he returned to Windsor and teamed up with members of Michou to form The Walkervilles, performing the songs of Nike Hargreaves, the band’s bass player. They became Windsor’s hottest band, recorded in Austin with , and were on the ascent when they broke up last year. Back as a solo again, Pat’s performance on Friday night at CROW is free, an exceptional bargain.

It’s always a treat when a great funk band, with the signature horn riffs and funky bass lines, is playing live. Even better when it’s in a venue with a dance floor, as it will be Saturday night when Grace plays The Harbour Street Fish Bar. This is a Toronto based band (not to be confused with Gracie, Meaford’s sweetheart) that was formed in the summer of 2014 by Mae Cromwell and Rhonda Bruce. They brought together an all-female ensemble that features killer vocals and a mix of r&b, funk, soul, disco, and rock that they call “funksoulicious”. Get down!

The Good Lovelies have a show at the Simcoe Street Theatre in Collingwood on Saturday night. Their music is built around immaculate three-part harmonies. They’ve been touring Europe, the UK, US and Canada in support of their latest album, “Burn The Plan”, an album with a new spirit of adventurousness. It’s been four years since their last, album, the Juno nominated “Let The Rain Fall”, with awards, touring and a live album. For Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough and Sue Passmore, four years has been the exact number of hours, moments and experiences needed to take the next step, to burn the plan.

It’s a special weekend for Classical Music lovers in Owen Sound, with the Sweetwater Music Festival bringing world class musicians from around the world. The opening night gala and concert takes place at the Historic Leith Church (the home of year-round classical offerings in this area) and the second big concert is at the Roxy on Saturday. Sunday afternoon at The Roxy, there is a matinee of chamber music with piano concertos by Mozart and Shostakovich.

But the real treat for jazz fans will be when the classical players cut loose at Heartwood Hall on Saturday night starting at ten with Sweetwater After Hours. A number of performers from the weekend’s other festival concerts, most of whom have more than a passing acquaintance with jazz, will be on hand to join Duane Andrews’guitar for some late night jazz,swinging with strings.

Heartwood Hall is the place for cutting loose most weekends and this weekend it’s the return of The Peptideson Friday night. Described by the Ottawa Citizen as “B52s meet the Manhattan Transfer with Arcade Fire as the back up”, they combine funk, disco, jazz and electronic influences with a big stage presence from their front line of five vocalists. They are as much fun for the eyes as for the ears.

Blues fans oughta hustle on down to the Harbour Street Fish Bar tonight to catch the seven o’clock show with James Green. One-time guitarist for The Blushing Brides, he’s had his own band, James Green and The Blues Electric, since 2004. As the name implies his blues leans heavily toward the Chicago style. It’s the kind of blues you can taste.